Pollen, pollen everywhere

And the other Katherine news is that we believe she has seasonal allergies. When I was out of town this week, she was really having trouble - eyes watering, stuffiness, and so forth. It's hard to tell sometimes if it's teething or something else, but finally Kara called the doctor, and it turns out to be allergies. That's a real bummer, because I was kinda hoping she would inherit my genes in that regard (I don't have any that I'm aware of, and generally am impervious to pollens). So now we add baby-Benadryl to the list of approved meds we can give her, but it really knocks her out - and she's a super active little girl so that's kinda too bad.

Hey Dad, can I borrow the keys to the car?

The funniest thing happened this evening. Kara went out for some well needed social time, and I took care of KLO this evening. So after she ate, I got her all set with a Wiggles DVD, and then nuked my own dinner, and ate and read the paper. Time passes, food gets eaten, everything's cool, right? Next thing you know, Katherine comes strolling through the kitchen holding a big toy over her shoulder, casual as could be. She glances ever so slightly in my direction (I'm still looking at the paper), and says, "Bye!". Then she continues on over to the back door, and reaches up, grabs the doorknob, and attempts to leave.

Mind you, this girl is only 17 months old (today, actually. Happy 17 month birthday daughter!).

Then, frustrated that she can't get the door open, she looks over at me, and says, more insistantly now, "BYE!".

It was hilarious. She could have been 16 and going out to the mall. OK, so parents get off on this stuff. Give me a break.

Happy Mother's Day!

Or at least, I hope the remaining hour or so are happy. We had a wonderful mother's day here at the Owczarek household. My mother's day gift actually arrived early, like, mid-week. I ordered a really nice coffee machine for Kara, but they shipped it to the house instead of the office (which I had specified), so instead of wrapping it all up on the fly and stuff, I had to let the secret out when I got home from work. Then, Kara, who had had a bad day, was so excited by this big box that I just had to let her open it. Anyway, it makes really, really good hot coffee.

So today, I got up early (6:30 ish), and ran to the store for sausage and stuff, and made cornbread pancakes with sausage and maple syrup. OK, ok, I didn't actually make the maple syrup, but I did warm it up. Then, we ran off to Mahoney's Rocky Ledge to get plants and stuff for the backyard. Yesterday, we dug up the old railroad ties that set off a small planting area next to the garage, and placed a set of granite blocks in place, turned the soil over, and generally got it ready. Today, we went out and bought plants. You see, Kara has had an itchin to get to that particular project, and it makes her happy, and so I helped her out by taking care of Katherine and generally doing the super hard work, like removing the old railroad ties, spreading the new topsoil, etc., and then let her have the fun part by planting. But, in fact, the stuff we bought in the morning just didn't do it for her, so after Katherine woke up from her nap, I took her out shopping and Kara went out and got more plants.

Kara got to pick all her meals today, and she decided that it would be a good night for barbequed steak. So off I went, and picked up some really nice boneless rib-eye steaks for the grill. It was the first time we grilled this year, and they were beyond fantastic. That and a couple glasses of wine set the tone for the evening. Katherine was a pretty good girl all day, so that helped too. Then, after dinner, I gave Katherine her bath, we put her to bed, and then watched a little TV. Kara was exhausted, because she woke up at 5:20 this morning, and got so excited thinking about the gardening she was going to do that she couldn't fall back asleep. So by 9:30 or so, she headed up to bed.

I did a few other things today. I dropped off some roses at my mother's grave. I really felt sad about it, because I still miss her so very much. It's been about four years. My dad is dating, and just turned 65. The school system in Medford is changing dramatically (she was a school teacher), and it was mother's day, and I could so use her motherly advice with Katherine.

I also called my Grandmother (my mom's mom) in Florida to say happy mother's day. She's doing well. Aunt Lorna, Uncle Ken, and Gram, if you are reading this (and a little birdie told me that someone down there does), I'm sending you a stack of pictures, including one of Katherine and Kara that Gram asked for, and I'll do it behind Kara's back so she doesn't know it's happening. Unless she reads this, of course, but she doesn't have a whole lot of time for reading my blogs.

Happy mothers day to all you moms out there. It was a nice one here.